The 12 Step Process to Falling In Love
by TheSecretWriterGirl
Summary: Oh, come on. It's pretty obvious that Adrien is head-over-heels for Marinette and Ladybug. The boy is about as subtle as a brick while flirting with the exact same person. And let's say that Marinette finally mustered the courage to ask Adrien out on a date, too, because Alya is sick and tired of Marinette forgetting to sign everything she gives to her crush.
1. Step One: You Ask Them Out— Duh!

For something that sounded so simple coming out of Alya's mouth, Marinette had a hard time blurting out the words:

"Will you go out with me, Adrien?"

No. Marinette refused to say it. What if she would get rejected? What if he liked someone else?

There were so many factors and circumstances to work in, and Oh! She absolutely refused to ask Adrien out. Marinette would rather stick with her unrequited love, thank you very much. Loving him like this will do just fine… probably.

"Marinette? You do know that it's unrealistic, right?" Alya was sat down in front of her dejected blue-eyed bestie, trying to knock some sense into her poor decision-making. "You should act on your crush! There are so many things you forget to do with indirect confrontations! Remember when you forgot to sign your name on Adrien's birthday present—"

"I remember."

"—and do you remember the time you forgot to sign your name on the love note you gave Adrien?"

"I remember."

"And do you remember—?"

Marinette stood up angrily and threw her hands up in the air. "Yes, Alya! I remember!" she exclaimed. Then, realizing that she had gathered the attention of half the cafe, she sat back down with a tomato red face full of embarrassment and regret. "I'm sorry," she told her friend. "I'm just— I'm really hopeless at this, okay? I can't even manage to pop a full sentence out in front of him—"

"Actually," Alya said matter-of-factly, "you _are_ capable of saying a full sentence. You've been saying full sentences. You're just a Debbie Downer who's too focused on last year's Adrien Interactions. Trust me when I say that you've had enough practice already."

"Um, I have?"

"Yes!" Alya looked at her best friend with gleaming eyes. "Yes! Okay! So, I hate to sound repetitive here, but do you remember when I called Adrien up to help you with your bad Chinese when your uncle was visiting?"

Marinette pouted. "It wasn't _that_ bad..."

"And do you remember when he had to come over to your place when you two won that video game tournament at school?"

"Well... yeah... I talked to him then, too..."

"And remember when we had to submit our student short film and you and Adrien almost kissed?" Alya crossed her arms over her chest. "I mean—sure, you stuttered through most of it, not to mention you were a _horrible_ actress—but you were both comfortable enough to kiss in front of everyone."

Marinette's face became as red as her Ladybug suit. "What does that have to do with talking to him?!" she exclaimed. "W-Where are you going with this?"

Alya giggled. "Point is," she began, "you're getting more and more comfortable around Adrien. All I'm saying is that you can probably ask him out. Like on a date. For real." She turned to her friend and settled her hands on her shoulders. "I believe in you, Marinette! You can _totally_ do this!"

The latter took a deep breath and made a face filled with determination. "You're right," she said. "I can do this. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna ask Adrien ou—"

"Ask me what?"

 _Speak of the devil_ , Marinette thought, squirming in her seat as the model in question walked up to the two girls.

"Oh! Hi, Adrien!" Alya waved amicably at their friend. Albeit her cheerful greeting, she gave Marinette the side eye and a mischievous smirk that only spelled trouble. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Yeah, well…" Adrien shrugged. "I had a modeling gig not too far away, and Gor— I mean, my driver agreed to let me stop by here for a quick bite to eat."

Marinette managed a smile. "So how was your photo shoot? Not too tedious, I hope?"

Adrien returned her smile with a wide, relaxed-looking grin of his own. "It actually went well," he replied. "I really liked the designer I worked with, and that helped smooth out the process."

"That's good!" Marinette was about to continue the conversation—bless her heart for not fainting so soon—when Alya ruined everything by standing abruptly from the table.

"I just remembered that I have to go run an errand!" exclaimed Alya, hurriedly shoving Adrien in the direction of their table. "I don't want to drag you guys down, so just stay here and chat, okay?" After throwing a quick, two-finger salute over her shoulder, Alya dashed out the door of the cafe, leaving behind a very flustered Marinette and a confused Adrien.

Marinette looked up at Adrien, this time giving an awkward, lopsided grin. "Um, yeah," she coughed. "A-Anyways, do you, um, come here often?"

 _Smooth_ , Marinette, she chided herself. She was so read to punch herself in the face. _Real smooth_.

Adrien, however, didn't seem to notice her struggle for words. In fact, he continued to smile at her with sincerity.

"Actually, I do," he replied. "This place tends to be in the middle of a lot of photo shoot locations, so I stop by here whenever I can." He leaned closer, and added, "You didn't hear it from me, but I like loading up on carbs. It annoys the heck out of my dad's assistant Natalie, who wants me on some strict diet for modeling."

"My lips are sealed," said Marinette, stifling a giggle. "Though, that _does_ sound pretty harsh. Won't you need to keep up all that energy for modeling? It does take up a lot of time, and um, you also have fencing, don't you?"

Adrien sighed. "Exactly," he said. "My father and Natalie always have me moving around so much, yet they're still so adamant on keeping me on such a strict diet. I'm sick and tired of seeing greens all the time. Pretty sure my skin will end up turning green soon, too."

Marinette tried to smile, but the concern for her friend's well-being came before the humor. "It's not really my place to say this, but your father and Natalie shouldn't be so controlling. I'm sure you like modeling from time to time, but they have to understand that it gets tiring since you have a whole bunch of other activities and school and homework to juggle around and—" Marinette stopped herself. "Oops, I think I've already said a little too much." She coughed. "Um, point is, you should tell them the way you feel. And they should try to understand where you're coming from after you've voiced your opinion."

 _Wow_ , Marinette thought, _that's the most I've ever said to Adrien. Ever_. She felt like her heart was about to explode, but she swallowed back her drumming heartbeat and focused on being a friend.

(Before asking him out, that is.)

(If she can even manage that.)

"If only." Adrien's eyes were downcast. "I've… tried to do that before, but my dad's a pretty strict guy. He's been that way ever since my mom—"

Marinette noticed the crack in his voice and hurried to stop him. "Hey," she called, waiting for him to look her in the eyes. "You don't have to talk about it if you aren't comfortable. I—um— I'm sorry if that brought up unpleasant memories."

"No, no. It's fine. Really, Marinette." Adrien smiled up at her. She quickly noticed how sad and lonely his lovely green eyes were, and she felt that tug in her gut to get to know him better and maybe help fill the gap left behind by his mother. Marinette was well aware that she could, in no means, replace her, but she did want to help her friend smile a little more. She wanted his smile to reach his eyes and light up the entire room.

"Um." Marinette fidgeted with her fingers, fearing that she'd stared at him for too long. "Uh, you should"—she awkwardly cleared her throat—"order something now. You're probably hungry."

"O-Oh yeah! Completely forgot," Adrien stuttered. "You're just... really easy to talk to Marinette. I'm glad we're friends."

 _How can I possibly ask him out when he says something like that so sincerely?_ Marinette wondered as she reassured him with a smile.

"Of course," she replied. "And if you're ever feeling another spark of rebellion against that strict modeling diet of yours, you should consider stopping by the bakery. I'm sure my parents will be more than willing to help you out with your problem." Marinette let out a small laugh. "Actually, I think they, uh, really like you. They think you should come more often."

 _Did I really just say that?!_ Marinette was internally screaming.

Adrien looked up from his menu and looked slightly surprised. The look was quickly overtaken by a grateful expression. "Thanks, Marinette," he said sincerely. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Before Marinette could fall off her chair, she quickly raised her hand to call a waiter's attention. "U-Um, can I have a tall glass of ice water, please?" she asked, in the hopes that it would help her face cool down. She turned to Adrien. "And, um, you?"

While Adrien took his turn ordering, Marinette to this change to _finally_ collect her thoughts and catch her breath.

Hopefully Adrien didn't notice how her face was the same shade as a well-cooked lobster.

"What do you mean you couldn't ask him out?!" Even after I left you alone with him like that?!"

Leave it to Alya to manage to be mad at Marinette for yet another one of her failed romantic exploits. How the girl managed to know the exact time she got home and call her, Marinette didn't know, but one could always count on Alya to be irrationally mad at her best friend for failing to ask out her long-time crush.

 _I mean, come on! I really was hard!_

"You should have seen the look on his face when he said, 'I'm glad we're friends, Marinette.' How do you expect me to ask him out after he says something like that?" the other girl countered. Marinette was flopped down on her chaise, exhausted from keeping her thunderous heartbeat at bay while talking to Adrien. (In her defense, she did a great job.) "You should try asking someone out after they tell you how much they appreciate you as a friend all sincere and puppy-looking! I can't just pull that on him!"

Alya sighed on the other end of the receiver. "Okay, okay. I get it," she said. "But you have to do it at some point, Marinette. I want to see progress in your love life—"

" _Alya_ …," Marinette drawled, her voice coming off as a whine. "I'll ask out Adrien when you finally have the guts to ask Nino out."

Dead silence on the other end.

Marinette was so sure she had pushed the right buttons, and her suspicions were confirmed when Alya stuttered:

"Wh-Wha—? Me? Are you— You're seriously talking to me? Me? As in me, Alya Césaire, have a crush on Nino? Like, Nino who sits in front of us Nino?" She snorted. "Girl, you're crazy! Of-of course, I don't! How— How dare you even suggest that? That's disgusting. And wrong. I don't even get— Why would— I've never liked anyone that way, ever. It's none of your— You have—the nerve, the audacity. Nino is my friend, technically. And he is terrible, face-wise. And how—how—do I know, frankly, that you're not in love with him? Maybe you are. Maybe you're trying to throw me off. Hmm? Check and mate."

There was no stopping the uncontrollable fit of laughter bursting from Marinette's end of the line. She couldn't help it— It was so painstakingly obvious (to Marinette, at least) that Alya had a crush on Nino.

Sure, it wasn't as bad or as obvious as the first few months of Marinette's celebrity crush on Adrien, but still! The lingering stares, the playful smirks, the teasing flirts— Those things, albeit subtle, were pretty hard to miss. Even Adrien was picking up on it, and Alya was far more subtle than Marinette ever will be when it comes to crushing on someone.

"D-Don't laugh!" Alya stuttered. "Hey, if you don't stop, I will come to your room right now and kick your butt. I mean it, Marinette!"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Marinette stifled her laughter.

"And at least I'm somewhat subtle about it. You're about as subtle as a brick when it comes to your crush on Adrien."

"Point taken," Marinette admitted sheepishly. "But my condition still stands. If you don't have the guts to ask Nino out, then there is no way I'm asking Adrien."

A moment of silence passed before:

" _Fine!_ Fine. All right. I'll do it. I'll ask Nino out," Alya grumbled. "And I'm doing it after school tomorrow, so you better practice asking Adrien out, Marinette, because it's your turn next!"

"It's a deal." Marinette opened her mouth to say more, but her mom's voice called her from downstairs.

"Dinner's ready, Marinette!" Sabine hollered. "Wrap up your phone call, darling!"

"Coming, _Maman_!" she called over her shoulder. "You heard the lady, Alya. I gotta go. I'll see you in school tomorrow, all right?"

"See ya! Later, girl." Before Marinette officially ended their call, she heard Alya add, "And you better own up to your end of the deal."

 _Oh, boy_. Marinette was in for an earful tomorrow, that's for sure.

"Is it me or are Alya and Nino more… chummy lately?" During gym, Adrien leaned over to talk to Marinette as they did their warm up stretches.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "It's definitely not you," she replied. "Alya and I were talking last night and she agreed to ask Nino out if I ask—" _Shut your face hole, Marinette!_ she scolded herself before letting out an awkward cough. "But, um! Don't tell Nino! She said she would ask him after school today."

Adrien smiled. "My lips are sealed," he said, making the gesture of zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key. "And by the way," he added as they finished up their stretches. "Did you, by any chance, catch what we were doing in gym today?" There was a barely discernible flush of red on Adrien's ears. His eyes were focused only on Marinette. "I kind of zoned out."

Marinette had to muster all her strength to manage an answer. "I, um— I think we're, um, doing— _playing_ —um, volleyball," she stuttered, unable to tear her gaze away from Adrien's dreamy, emerald green eyes that just so happened to catch the gym lights in an unbelievably, unrealistically perfect way—"

She stopped herself from getting carried away and blinked, forcing herself to look away and retie her shoelaces.

In her defense, who wouldn't find themselves lost in the eyes of their crush? Marinette, for one, thought that Adrien's eyes were one of the many (many) brilliant aspects that made him wonderful.

"Volleyball, huh?" Adrien seemed to ponder on that for a moment before turning back to Marinette and patting her on the shoulder. "I hope we're on the same team, Marinette."

"S-Same," she stuttered. However, she was quickly snapped out of her Adrien Trance™ when their gym teacher blew his whistle.

"Your attention please!" he said in a loud voice. "As I mentioned before, you will be playing volleyball in class today. Because Alix and Kim aren't here today"—there was a collective groan from the class, seeing as the two of them were the most athletic out of the group—"we have enough people to make exactly two teams. I will count you off by twos, so one group will stay on this side of the court and the other will go to their respective side. Questions?" When no one raised their hand, Mr. D'argencourt began to number people off.

Just Marinette's luck, too— Of course Adrien was placed on the opposite team. To pile onto that, Chloé Bourgeois happened to be sorted into her team as well.

At least Marinette had Alya.

Upon getting called to Marinette's team, Alya walked over to where her friend stood and gave her a high five.

"On the same team!" she cheered as she faced the opposing team on the other side of the net. Adrien, Nino, Mylène, Rose, Juleka, and Max were already set in their starting positions, with Nino set to serve and Adrien in the right spiker's position.

Meanwhile, Marinette's team consisted of Alya, Chloé, Sabrina, Ivan, and Nathaniel. The majority vote was to make Marinette captain, which she held no opposition to. Chloé, of course, had other ideas, but Mr. D'argencourt had already told her off for not listening. She had decided that her nails were more important anyways.

"Okay, so here's the plan," Marinette began. "Ivan, you'll be serving first. Chloé, you'll go second in the rotation. Alya, you come third, and I'll come fourth. Sabrina will go after me, and Nathaniel will go after Sabrina. Any questions?"

"I have a question!" _Of course you do, Chloé_ , Marinette thought inwardly as she turned to look at her. "Why can't I go first?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Chloé, you hate messing up your hair, let alone your nails. If you serve first, you'll ruin the momentum, and Ivan's the best server power-wise. Don't you want to win?"

Chloé, unable to have a proper comeback for a retort that made sense, simply stomped her foot and swiftly turned her head, nearly taking Ivan's ear off in the team huddle. "Whatever," she said in her snooty voice. "Let's just get this over with. Come on, Sabrina."

When the terrible twosome left their meeting to go to their respective positions, Marinette added:

"I'll be the setter, and the main spikers can be anyone but Chloé. When the ball is coming toward her, make sure you cover. Nathaniel, Ivan, Alya?" Since their initial positions place Chloé in the right spiker's position, shorter serves might be coming to her, leaving it up to the players behind her—that would be either Ivan or Nathaniel, depending on the course of the ball—or the player beside her, a.k.a. Alya. Sabrina, Marinette was sure, would do just fine since she was separated from Chloé. She would need some help maybe, but Marinette knew she could count on Sabrina far more than she ever could count on Chloé.

"There's our game plan, guys!" Marinette called as she clapped her hands together and moved into position. "Let's win this!"

Coincidentally, her position placed her directly across from Adrien's.

Cue Chloé's whiny voice across the court—-"She purposely planned it this way so she could hog Adrien!"—to which Alya quickly snapped back with "It's just a coincidence, Chloé. Do you want to win or not?"

Adrien smirked a very Cat Noir-like smirk at Marinette. There were times where they always looked a little too similar than Marinette would like, and she had always decided to dismiss it as her imagination. But lately… She wasn't sure. She would have to confront him about it later.

"Looks like we aren't on the same team after all," Adrien observed with a playful tone in his voice. "So _did_ you pick this spot so you would be the one to face me, Marinette?"

Adrenaline and the overbearing urge to always win allowed Marinette to hit him back with a smirk of her own and a snarky reply:

"In your dreams, Adrien," she retorted. "This is my winning spot, and you better remember it when my team kicks your butt."

"Challenge accepted, Princess."

Maybe that was just a slip of the tongue, Marinette decided, upholding her 'fierce competitor' face for their game while keeping that remark at the back of her mind. It's totally a coincidence because there was no way that Adrien was Cat Noir… right?

They won, of course. That was to be expected. Marinette brought her A-Game and helped her team keep their spirits high by cheering during serves and spikes and complimenting them on particularly excellent receives that brought the ball right to her.

"Good game," Marinette greeted once she reached the end of the other team's lineup, shaking Adrien's hand. "Told you that'd be my winning position."

"Lady Luck just happened to be on your side, is all," Adrien replied with a grin. "I'll win next time."

Oh, sure, Marinette acted completely normal afterward. She deserved a pat on the back for that. But that teeny detail remained at the back of her mind for the rest of the day and well into the late afternoon when school had already ended.

"What's that supposed to mean, Tikki?" Marinette cried. The frantic look on look on her face made the girl look about ready to yank all her hair out. "Does he know something? You know, I've been noticing him acting a lot like Cat Noir lately… Do ou think it's because he knows I'm Ladybug? Oh my goodness! What if he knows I'm Ladybug! What else is 'Lady Luck just happened to be on your side' supposed to mean? _I'm_ Lady Luck! It's one of my nicknames! Oh my goodness, Tikki—"

"Calm down, Marinette," the little kwami said, sticking its hands out in a gesture meant to settle Marinette down. "There's always a possibility that it was just a coincidence—"

"But what if it's not?" The calming down thing was not working. Marinette was still freaked out. "He called me 'Princess' earlier, too. And then he made that Lady Luck comment. That can't possibly be a coincidence!"

"You two have only started talking more often during the past months," Tikki pointed out. "You've barely been able to stutter a word out to him last school year, so I doubt he knows very much to deduce that you're Ladybug."

Marinette looked hesitant. "Well," she began, biting her lip. "You're not… wrong… I suppose that _is_ a possibility… Hmm… Maybe I _am_ just overthinking things."

"That's right! You just—" Tikki widened her eyes before quickly zooming away, hiding behind Marinette's back.

A moment later, Marinette heard heavy footsteps, followed by her dad opening the door to her room. "Oh, Marinette!" Tom called in a singsong voice. "You've got a visitor downstairs."

The 'visitor' was Adrien, and her mom was probably in the middle of embarrassing her daughter. Go figure.

"There you are, Marinette!" said Sabine, flashing a knowing smile. "We only have one customer right now, so your dad and I were about to head out to restock on some things. Hope you don't mind watching the shop for a little bit."

"Um…" Marinette turned towards Adrien, gave him a little wave in greeting, and faced her mother once again. "Sure, _Maman_. I don't mind. I'll take care of the shop," she reassured. "I've already finished up my homework, so you go ahead with Papa and I'll take care of our customer here." She sneaked another shy glance at Adrien, who gave her a toothy grin in return.

Satisfied with her answer, Sabine patted her daughter on the back and headed out the back door where her husband was already waiting. "All right… I trust, Marinette," she said. With a wave over her shoulder, she added, "And it was very nice seeing you again, Adrien!"

When the door clicked shut, Marinette faced her model friend. She let out a small chuckle. "I told you they liked you," she said. "So, um, Adrien. What brings you here?"

"I took you up on your offer yesterday," he replied with a nonchalant shrug. "So what's your favorite treat here, Marinette?"

"Oh! Um…" She turned around from behind the counter to stare up at the mounted menu. "Let's see… Well, to be fair, I'm always a sucker for classics, so my favorite is just a little plateful of chocolate chip cookies." She winked—oh my goodness, she _winked_ for heaven's sake—at Adrien and added, "And between the two of us, they taste a lot better when they're warmed up a little."

"Chocolate chip cookies it is!" Adrien ordered. "And can I get that with some of your cheese bread?"

Marinette looked surprise. "Wow, someone's really hungry," she commented. "Was there a particularly taxing photo shoot today or…?"

"Sort of." Adrien smiled and sat down at one of the tables set up. "The designer was very… difficult, and the photographer was pushy. Not the best photo shoot exactly."

Marinette frowned when she heard that, but—what in the akumatized world was going on here?!—she dropped _another wink_ and added, "I'll bring you that pate of warm chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk then." She smiled. "Hopefully that helps lift your mood a little."

Her heart was about to explode from all the flirting she's done in the past two minutes. If only Alya could see her now.

"You are an actual _angel_ , Marinette!" exclaimed Adrien as he ate the last of the chocolate chip cookies. "Those were the best cookies I have ever tasted in my entire life."

Marinette blushed a scarlet red. "Thanks," she muttered. "I'll tell my parents that you gave them such high praises."

She watched as he downed the last of his milk. "Oh, please do," he said, wiping off his milk moustache. "And thank you as well, Marinette."

"What did I do?"

"I feel a lot better after that exhausting photo shoot. I'm really glad I decided to stop by today."

"Me too." Marinette shifted in her seat across from Adrien. She supposed now was as good a time as ever. "Say, Adrien? There's, um, something I've been meaning to as you for a long while now."

"Really? What is it, Marinette?"

"Will you"— _This is it! This is it!_ —"go out with me?"


	2. Step Two: Dress to Impress

Adrien looked surprised. "Me? Ask _me_ out?"

Marinette was about to fall off from her chair. She finally mustered the courage to ask her crush out and _of course_ that's the first thing he says. "O-Of course you, silly! Who else would I be asking in this, um, otherwise empty store?" _It's just the two of us here_ , she wanted to add, but her heart was about to burst. She looked around the store for emphasis, using her retort as an excuse not to look Adrien in the eyes. "And, um! It doesn't have to be… you know… romantic or, um, anything like that. I just thought that we could—erm—hang out, you know? A-As friends, of course!"

"Friends…," Adrien echoed. There was a ghost of a smile on his face, something precious and about to burst with joy.

When his face lit up like that, Marinette felt a mixture of emotions. Of course she loved seeing Adrien happy, but he was happy because they were _just friends_ and definitely not because they could be anything more.

"Um, yeah. I'd love that, actually. What'd you have in mind?" he asked. When he looked so eager and excited, Marinette couldn't possibly bring herself to say, 'Psych! I'm really in love with you and wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with you.' Alya would just _have_ to understand. Besides, there were more pressing issues at the moment.

 _I never even thought I would make it this far, much less have an actual plan for a date_ , Marinette thought. She was so, _so_ ready to dash out of there and leave Adrien confused and hanging, but she was frozen to hear seat.

(She had to face her fears at _some_ point. Now was as good a time as ever.)

"We could… go to the movies! I've, uh, actually wanted to see that new film people have been going on about," Marinette replied. "It's, um, supposed to be about Ladybug and Cat Noir! 'Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir' or something like that." Marinette laughed. "It's a mouthful, but I've heard good things about it."

Marinette didn't say how she also wanted to see the movie to get a good laugh about what the writers had in store for her alter ego.

Meanwhile, Adrien looked like he was trying to hold back a smile. "Are Ladybug and Cat Noir the ones starring in it?" he asked, sounding curious. Although… there was something about the way he said that that made it obvious he knew the answer already.

(As always, Marinette chose to ignore that.)

She coughed awkwardly as she thought of herself spending time on a movie set in her super suit and not go chasing after akumas. After all, Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous should be used for saving Paris; they weren't meant for starring in silly movies.

"I kinda doubt that, but it would be pretty cool, I guess…" She trailed off. "So, um, the movies? You're seriously okay with seeing that?"

"Totally!" The wide, toothy grin on Adrien's face made Marinette want to melt into a puddle. Pure sunshine, that boy. How could anyone not fall head-over-heels for him? "We'll both be pretty busy with school this week, so how does Saturday sound?" replied Adrien. "Does two o'clock sound like an all right time to meet up? I mean, we can always talk details later but…"

Marinette returned his smile. "It sounds perfect."

The following school day, Alya wouldn't stop elbowing her best friend in the arm. She kept whispering, "Details! Details! I wanna know it all!" Marinette had no choice but to recount yet another failed romantic exploit in full detail and repeat the same story fifty times over on the way home, too.

Alya would never let this go. Marinette would forever live with the shame and the jokes her best friend would make about this.

"I can't believe," Alya began with a cackling laugh, "that you _straight up_ asked him out—"

"Alya, please do _not_ make me feel any worse than I already do…"

"—on a _date_ -date and somehow managed to turn it into a 'Just Friends' situation." Alya shook her head, still laughing. "Girl, you are _hopeless_!"

Marinette leaned her head on Alya's shoulder. "I know," she mumbled, feeling dejected. "But you should have seen the way he lit up when I said we were only going out as friends!" The blue-eyed girl heaved a sigh. "Alya, is it really wrong to just be there for him as a friend first?"

"Oh, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that," the blogger told Marinette, "but I'm worried about you! I don't want you to settle for a friendship status with Adrien when you like him so much more than that! It's not fair of you to put your own feelings down like that, and you _should_ let him know how you feel."

"And I will," Marinette reassured. "But I'll take it at my own pace, okay? It's a process. I should at least be there as a friend before proclaiming my love for him."

"If you say so." Alya decided to leave it at that. "So… when's your friend date? What are you guys gonna do?"

"We're watching that movie about Ladybug and Cat Noir on Saturday," Marinette informed Alya. "Uh, you've seen it, right? How was it?"

Alya stopped to think about that for a moment. "It was better than I thought, actually," she explained. "They had an origin story, a fight to the death with Hawkmoth— Ooh! And some people are speculating that the actors for Ladybug and Cat Noir are the real heroes of Paris themselves, but still think that my high school theory stands! Well, besides that, we also _finally_ got to see Ladybug and Cat Noir's romance—"

"What?! How do the movie people even know that Cat Noir and Ladybug are together?" Marinette was going to kick herself. As if she would ever fall for that silly kitty! She never did! She would never— Cat Noir was like a friend. Her best friend, besides Alya. He was her partner and someone she was sure she could trust with her life. They worked well together as superheroes, but she doubted that she would ever find herself in a relationship with him. Not only does she like someone else, but being in a relationship with him meant that she was risking a lot more than usual every time they would fight an akuma. If she really loved him, there was no way she would function if he ever… you know… didn't come back.

Ladybug just couldn't be with Cat Noir.

"I heard that." Alya cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you mean Ladybug can't be with Cat Noir? They're partners, and they're each other's better half. They also barely do any press interviews, so we can't know for sure." The brunette leaned in close to study Marinette, eyeing her suspiciously. "Do you know something, girlie?"

"I… um…" Marinette gulped. "Well… I…"

Alya threw her head back and laughed. "I'm just playing, Marinette," she told her friend. "Besides, I know you've got a thing for Cat Noir, too. Don't want him to be Ladybug's, huh?"

Marinette's face grew hot. "That's not— I would never— I-I've literally only met Cat Noir like twice, and the first time I, uh, met him, it was because there was an akumatized person after me! It's— I don't like him like that! A-At all!"

"Mm-hm. Your face says otherwise, Marinette. You're as red as a tomato."

"A-Am not!"

"Are too! Stop arguing with me, Marinette! There's no shame in admitting that you have a crush on Adrien _and_ Cat Noir," Alya remarked. "It's all right to like two people at the same time, you know."

Marinette pouted. "I do _not_ like Cat Noir," she said firmly. "I only have eyes for Adrien."

Alya sighed. "Whatever you say, girl." Her tone implied that she was still so sure Marinette was in clear denial of her crush on Cat Noir.

Marinette knew better because there was _no way_ she could have a crush on that silly kitty when she was _oh so close_ to relaying her true feeling to Adrien Agreste.

Whatever her feelings were, they shouldn't get in the way, especially since her date with Adrien was coming up quick.

And so the dreaded day came out last.

As usual, she had invited Alya over so she would be prepped, readied, and perfectly prepared for her _friend_ date with Adrien.

"Step two!" Alya announced, raising two fingers in the air accordingly. "You've gotta dress to impress, Marinette. Adrien's dad is a world-renowned fashion designer! Now, I'm aware that you have some mad fashion skills of your own, but you've got to absolutely wow him with a casual-not-so-casual outfit that will put the cute in drop dead gorgeous."

"That made no sense," Marinette deadpanned, slumping in her chair. "And what was step one in the first place?"

"Asking him out," said Alya. "Duh! But now that you've got _that_ out of the way, we need to focus on your date! First things first"—she gestured at Marinette's closet—"what to wear?"

"Oh… I don't know…" Marinette stood up and shuffled through a couple outfits. "It's October, so it might be a little chilly out… I was thinking of wearing this?" She held up a light pink sundress that stopped just above her knees and partnered it with a special denim jacket that Marinette made herself. The inside of the jacket had a pink-and-white polka dotted fabric for a little Ladybug flare. When she was planning her outfit earlier, she had hoped that the polka dots could somehow help her channel the same confidence she had as Ladybug. To top it all off, she even had light gray polka-dotted tights to partner with her pink converse.

… Was it too obvious? Too subtle?

"That's perfect, Marinette!" exclaimed Alya, holding the material of the dress between her fingers. "Oh! It'll look so cute on you! Look at you all grown up and going on a date!" She hugged her friend tightly.

Marinette rolled her eyes, but nonetheless returned her friend's embrace. "Relax, Alya," she muttered. "It's just a _friendly_ date."

"To Adrien!" she countered. "For you this is… It's like a huge accomplishment Marinette! I'm so proud of you!"

The blue-eyed girl huffed, but there was a blush on her cheeks. "Quit it," she was mumbling. "You sound like my mom."

"Whatever." Alya rolled her eyes and finally let go of Marinette. "Oh! I'm just really happy! After this, we can totally go on double dates together! Me and Nino, you and Adrien—"

"Hold on, hold on!" Marinette looked at Alya. "You and Nino already went on a date?! Since when? Why didn't you tell me?"

Alya laughed nervously and scratched at her chin. "Actually," she mumbled, "we've been going out for a while already. We were just trying to keep it on the down low."

"You and Nino were a _thing_ and you didn't even tell me?!" Marinette felt betrayed. And stupid, but mostly betrayed. "Ugh! And to think, I even thought I had some sort of 'upper hand' on you when I proposed that deal! You've been going out with Nino all along! And you used that to… to… to g-get me to ask Adrien out! H-How could you?!"

"Deep breaths, Marinette," Alya said in an attempt to calm her best friend down. "Deep breaths… That's it…" When Marinette was close to 'calm', Alya began, "How else was I supposed to get you to ask Adrien out? It was the only way, and it worked, didn't it? How do you feel about snagging a date with the one and only Adrien Agreste?"

Marinette was frowning, still upset by her friend's betrayal, but she was coming around. "Well… I'm glad that I get to spend the day with him," she said. "Even _if_ it's just a friend date to him…"

"Exactly." Alya crossed her arms over her chest and gave Marinette a square look. "Even if it's just as friends, you managed to ask Adrien out, girlie! Doesn't it feel great? Don't you feel accomplished?"

"Well, yeah… you could say that."

"Then, there we go. My job here is done."

"… but don't leave yet, okay? You have to be with me right up until Adrien comes to pick me up."

"Don't worry, Marinette. I'm not going anywhere."

It was around one forty-five when Prince Charming himself showed up at the Dupain-Cheng residence. Adrien had traded in his usual outfit for a different black graphic tee that he wore under a blue blazer. To Marinette's surprise, he even wore the scarf she made him, and it definitely helped put his outfit together. In a word, he looked _dashing_. He was so casually dashing that it took all of Marinette's self-control to stop herself from swooning.

Instead, she squeaked when she answered the door. "H-Hi, Adrien!" she greeted with a nervous smile. "Um, thanks for picking me up! A-Are you, um, ready to go?"

"Yup," he replied, flashing a grin. "Just came by to make sure a certain princess was ready, too."

 _Princess_ , Marinette thought. _He called me princess again_.

"Well, don't you two clean up nicely?" Tom came up from behind Marinette, waving over at Adrien. "How are you, Adrien?"

"I'm doing well, sir," Adrien answered, waving in return. "Hope you don't mind my stealing away Marinette for a couple hours."

Sabine laughed. "We don't mind at all, Adrien," she said, throwing a quick wink over in their direction. "Hope you two kids have fun at the movies!"

"And no funny business, all right?" Tom meant to sound lighthearted and teasing, but there was an underlying threat in his voice, too. _Make one wrong move, and you're a goner_ , he was basically saying. His big, burly stature didn't help either. Although the man always came across as the giant teddy bear type of dad, he sure can sound threatening when it came to it.

Adrien understood immediately and gulped nervously. "O-Of course!" he reassured. "We—we're just going a-as friends! Right, Marinette?"

"R-Right." Marinette smiled awkwardly at Adrien and her parents. "And a-anyways we better get going." She quickly grabbed her purse and yanked on Adrien's hand before her parents had a chance to hold them back any longer. "Bye, Mama! Bye, Papa!" With a little wave over her shoulder, she slammed the door shut and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

She gave Adrien an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that," she mumbled. "My parents are kinda pushy… My dad didn't mean anything by that, so don't even worry about it."

"Thanks, Marinette," Adrien said. "N-Not just for telling me that your dad isn't going to kill me, but you know. For hanging out with me today. My dad and Natalie don't usually let me hang out with friends that much, and Nino's banned from the house since he snapped at my dad."

Any sign of nerves or worry completely disappeared from Marinette's face. In its place was a look of concern for her friend's well-being. "That's awful," she said in a low voice. "No one deserves to be treated that way, but I'm glad you were able to spend some time with me, too."

Adrien let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm, um, actually kind of on the run from my driver again," he admitted with a sheepish grin on his face. "He knows that I'm somewhere around here, so do you mind if we take the long way around to get to the theater? You know… to get him off my back?"

"O-Of course! I don't mind at all!" Marinette realized that she was still holding his hand and abruptly let go. "Um! S-Sorry about that! I was in such a hurry to get away from my parents and—"

"It's no problem at all, Marinette," Adrien replied, taking her hand again. "It's fine if we hold hands, isn't it? Friends hold hands. Besides, it's a little cold outside don't you think?"

 _Friends hold hands_ , Marinette echoed in her mind as she nodded profusely. "U-Uh, yeah! Totally! That it's cold outside, I mean," she stuttered. "W-We should get going. The movie starts at two forty, so that should give us enough time to, um… you know… throw your driver off!"

"Sounds like a perfect plan to me."

By the time they arrived at the theater, Adrien and Marinette were in fits of giggles and red faces—both from the slightly colder weather and embarrassing little thoughts that have crossed their minds. Turns out, running away from his driver was a good excuse to talk for a long time. Not only did Marinette get to know Adrien better, she also felt _way_ more comfortable around him. Comfortable enough to flirt without feeling like she might spontaneously combust at any given moment. It was truly a milestone for Marinette.

"That was close!" Marinette laughed, turning to face Adrien with the biggest grin on her face. "We barely lost him back there!"

"Trust me when I say I'm an expert at handling him," Adrien said with a wink. "I've had my fair share of running away from responsibilities and Gorilla. It's actually something I do on a daily basis."

"Stop it!" Marinette bumped shoulders with him. They were still laughing, out of breath from the running they had just done to get away from Gorilla. "It's not that funny! That's actually pretty serious, Adrien!"

"Oh, but it is _too_ funny! You're laughing right now, Marinette!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Marinette shook her head. "You're _impossible_ ," she was saying in between fits of laughter. "Oh gosh, and the jokes you made earlier today, too—"

"Oh? Got a _bone_ to pick with me, Princess?"

"Adrien, we saw a dog chewing on a bone _once_! Enough with the puns!"

"And what if I don't? Are you gonna send me to the pound?"

"Adrien!"

" _Paw_ lease, Marinette. My puns are _purr_ etty great, and you know it." There was a wide grin on Adrien's face as he switched to the dreaded cat puns. Adrien, as Marinette found out, had an _obsession_ with cat puns and was pretty unstoppable once you got him going.

She replied with a pointed look that said she was _so_ done with him. It was bad enough that Cat Noir had terrible cat puns too, but now Adrien was aboard the punstoppable joke train.

(See? They even got Marinette punning in her thoughts! It was ridiculous!)

"What? Nothing to say? Cat got your tongue?"

Marinette decided not to say anything and let go of his hand to face the other way, ignoring him until he would stop with the puns already.

"Aw… you know I'm just _kitten_ with you, Marinette."

Read ✔ 2:36 pm.

" _Marinette!_ I know you're _feline_ annoyed by all my cat jokes, but you can't just ignore me like that!"

Nope. Marinette was still ignoring him.

Adrien sighed. " _Fine_. I'm done with the puns. Just stop ignoring me already!"

Marinette dared to turn her head ever so slightly, just enough to see Adrien at the corner of her eye. He was wearing the cutest pout on his face and looked just like a needy kitty she knew off.

It was Marinette's turn to sigh. Even Ladybug can't resist a pout like that. "All right, all right," she said with a small smile on her face. "Consider yourself un-ignored."

Adrien grinned. "Good," he remarked, taking her hand in his once again. "Now, we should probably get those tickets to see that movie."

Marinette's smile widened. "That's a good idea."

The movie was _awful_. Marinette had no idea what Alya was talking about. Not only were the actors bad, but the script was horrible and cheesy, and they even painted Hawkmoth as a misunderstood lone wolf who just needed a little bit of love.

It was pathetic!

No one seeking to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous through _any_ means possible was a good person. He was willing to stake the lives of the people of Paris, and he always seemed more than willing to take the lives of Paris's beloved superheroes if it meant getting their miraculous.

Awful, that movie was. Just plain _awful_.

There was not only that overlying detail, but the romance between Ladybug and Cat Noir? _Blech!_ It made Marinette throw up in her mouth a little. Not only was the romance poorly executed, but there was absolutely no chemistry between the actors portraying Ladybug and Cat Noir.

"So…," Adrien began. He sounded just as uncomfortable as Marinette felt after walking out of that theater. "What did you, um, think of that movie?"

Marinette fidgeted with her fingers. "Do you want me to be honest?"

"I assumed that was a given." Adrien and Marinette stepped off to the side, choosing a random table to sit at while people milled about the movie theater. "So? Thoughts?"

"I thought it was _awful_ ," admitted Marinette. "Awful. Just plain awful. I threw up a little in my mouth."

Adrien let out a breath of relief. " _Thank goodness_ ," he said gratefully. "I thought it was just me!"

"I mean, their characterization of Hawkmoth was completely unrealistic!"

"I thought so, too! And the acting was bad…"

"… the writing was bad…"

"… there was no chemistry between Ladybug and Cat Noir…"

"… and—"

"And Cat Noir is _definitely_ better looking than that!" exclaimed Adrien. "The guy's probably shredded! Helping Ladybug out takes abs of steel, don't you think?"

"Um, yes?" Marinette didn't know what to say to that. "If you ask me, Ladybug's probably got better abs that Cat Noir."

Adrien grinned in a way that was so _ridiculously_ close to the way Cat Noir would always grin at Ladybug. "I bet," he said. "She's pretty built herself. Ladybug can totally lift Cat Noir, no sweat about it."

If Marinette didn't know any better, it almost sounded like Adrien was swooning _over Ladybug_. Ridiculous, right? What are the odds that her competition for Adrien's heart was none other than her alter ego? Absolutely ridiculous.

"She sure is great, huh…," Marinette commented, trying not to smile. "So, um… Just out of curiosity, what _do_ you think of Ladybug? Not movie Ladybug, but half of Paris's famous superhero duo Ladybug?"

Marinette's heart melted at the absolutely breathtaking look that came across Adrien's face when he thought of Ladybug. It was absolutely _crazy_ how she could be jealous of herself. What an odd predicament Marinette had wound up in.

"Ladybug's amazing," Adrien was saying. There were stars in his eyes. "She's not just strong, she's… brilliant, confident, compassionate, selfless… She's just… _great_. Absolutely great." His cheeks were burning red. "Um… why do you ask?"

 _Wow_ , Marinette thought. _Just wow. Honestly…_ What _were_ the odds that Adrien _did_ have a crush on Ladybug? How was Marinette supposed to compete with her better self—her better, more confident self? Boring ole Marinette couldn't possibly compete with her alter ego, much less get Adrien to _notice_ her the same way he noticed Ladybug.

But there was no way Marinette was going to ever, _ever_ , let him know her secret. She would die from embarrassment, and Adrien would never talk to her again.

(She decided that she would have to work _way_ harder to win over Adrien's heart as Marinette. Maybe, just maybe, he could learn to love the both sides of herself she was always scared to show.)

"N-No reason," said Marinette. She gave him a determined smile. "Just wondering, is all. I'm a big fan of Ladybug myself, you know."

Adrien laughed. "I guess you would have to be, with Alya being your best friend and all."

"That's a plus but—"

Marinette wasn't able to continue. She was interrupted by a loud-mouthed old man yelling at a poor concession worker.

"I asked for _extra_ butter on that popcorn!" the old man was yelling, swinging an angry fist in the air. "And you also failed on my drink! This is _diet_ , and I asked for _regular_!"

"L-Look, sir, I'm really sorry…," the employee was muttering. "I'll replace your popcorn and drinks. On the house. Please, sir, just don't—"

"Don't _what_? Make a big fuss out of it? Well, you shoulda thought about that before getting my order wrong! And I thought I had bad hearing!" The old man angrily shoved his food and drink back across the counter before storming out. "You'll be hearing from me! Mark my words, you stupid worker!"

Marinette watched as the poor employee ran in the direction of the bathroom. "That was awful," she muttered to Adrien. "That old man should have had more patience with that employee. People are bound to get things wrong at some point. It's not like anyone was born perfect."

"Yeah…" Adrien sounded just as concerned as Marinette. "Do you think I should check up on the poor guy? That was way too harsh of that customer."

Marinette nodded grimly. "Go ahead," she said. "I'll wait right here."

Adrien nodded in return and headed in the direction that the employee ran in.

And a few minutes later, to no one's surprise—well certainly not to Marinette's surprise anyways—up and about popped a brand new akumatized person.

"I am Megaphone!" the employee screamed. "Just try not to hear me now!"


	3. Step Three: Flirting 101

_A/N: The original chapter title for part three was "Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve (AKA Flirting 101)" but I didn't have enough room XD_

* * *

It was unbelievable how quickly those pesky little butterflies found its way to its target. Hawkmoth's power was ridiculous.

By the time Adrien had arrived in the men's bathroom to check up on the poor employee, he had been far too late to stop the dark purple butterfly from "evilizing" its target. He saw a cloud of purple shroud the feet that peeked underneath one of the bathroom stalls before ducking into another stall himself. Carefully balancing himself on top of the toilet, he had no choice but to bide his time and stay out of the way before he got himself hurt.

He waited for the akumatized person to storm out of the bathroom with a loud bang—"I am Megaphone!" they cried as the crowd outside shrieked—before turning to the little kwami that hid in the inner pocket of his blazer.

"We've gotta go, Plagg," Adrien urged the kwami. "Claws out!"

"And just when I thought I could catch a break, too…" Plagg sighed right before being sucked into the miraculous.

(Ungrateful kwami couldn't even realize the urgency of the situation. Adrien swore there was nothing up in that head of his but cheese.)

One transformation later, he ran out of the bathroom and ended up bumping straight into Marinette. Her eyes were wide with surprise.

"Cat Noir!" she squeaked. She fidgeted around for a bit, adjusting her purse over her shoulder and twiddling her fingers around. "Thank goodness you're here! There's been an akuma attack!"

"Yeah," he responded, a concerned look spreading across his face as he looked glanced in the direction that Megaphone had fled. "I was just about to check up on the poor guy when Hawkmoth sent his akuma. By the time I got there, it was too late to stop him without risking my identity."

His green eyes were downcast as he realized just how useless he really was. If Ladybug were here in his stead, she would have stopped the problem long before it even happened. That akuma would have been purified sooner, and certainly before it had reached its target.

And Adrien? Adrien couldn't do anything. He watched that akuma take over and feed off the employee's negative emotions. He watched that akuma transform someone emotionally vulnerable into a villain. He watched Hawkmoth claim another to use as a pawn in his plan to take Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous. He couldn't do anything but watch.

If he was this useless in the face of a situation that could be easily prevented, he couldn't help but feel that the same would hold true even more so in situations where the going gets rough.

How was he supposed to help Ladybug when it counted?

How dare he call himself a hero now?

"Cat Noir? Are you okay?" Marinette's voice called him back to reality. Her blue eyes were laden with concern.

 _Akuma. There's an akuma attack_ , he reminded himself. _I gotta keep it distracted until Ladybug gets here_.

 _I have to protect Marinette_ , he added as he turned to face her.

Adrien cast away his shroud of self-doubt and gave his princess a signature 'Cat Noir' grin. "Pfft, me? I'm _feline_ _purr_ fectly fine," he announced. Then, his cheery smile was suddenly weighed down with worry. "And you? Are you all right? You hurt anywhere?" He began to inspect her closely, lifting her arms, checking for bruises, and tilting her chin from side to side, before he realized his mistake. Cat Noir hardly knew Marinette. They've only met about three times now, and most of them tended to be interactions hardly a minute long.

Before he could even react to his error, Marinette smiled and gently picked his hands off her. "I'm fine, Cat Noir," she replied. "Really."

He sighed with relief. "That's good."

"And, um… Did you by any chance see my, um, friend there? Blonde hair, green eyes, was wearing a navy blazer? We saw what happened to the employee, and he went to check on him too, but—" She bit her lip, looking concerned once again. _She was concerned for him_ , Adrien thought with a grin.

She looked cute when she worried, Adrien mused. Her nose with scrunch up all cutely and the light blush on her cheeks brought his attention over to her freckles. Her freckles were really adorable. _Marinette_ was really adorable.

"Oh, that guy?" He huffed and ran a hand through his hair. "Saw him in there. He's fine," he reassured with a nonchalant shrug. "Don't need to worry about him."

Marinette gave him a puzzled expression. "Okay…?" She seemed to want to let that comment slide past, which only resulted in a wider smile from Adrien. "You should probably chase after that akuma now, Cat Noir," she added. "Talking to little ole me is just wasting your time—"

"Talking to you is never a waste of time, Marinette," he pressed, taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze. It was only right that the comfort she brought him today would be returned in kind, even if she didn't know that it was Adrien underneath Cat Noir's mask. He gave her _his_ smile—not the sly grins that Cat Noir often gave and _certainly not_ the picture perfect smiles he plastered on as the famous model, Adrien Agreste, but a real, genuine _Adrien_ smile. He broke the moment too soon and added, "But you _are_ right about one thing, Princess. I gotta go. The city of Paris needs saving."

Then, with a quick wink and a two-finger salute, Cat Noir ran on after Megaphone.

 _Try not to mess up this time, Adrien_ , he reminded himself as he took off, using his baton to hoist himself on top of the movie theater to get a better view. The image of a familiar girl with brilliant blue eyes and jet black hair flashed in his mind. _You've got people to save_.

Cat Noir had only waited for a couple minutes before Ladybug met him on the roof, swinging from her yo-yo and landing on her feet by his side.

"Nice of you to drop in, my lady," he greeted. "You sure took your time."

She cracked a smile. "I _do_ have a life outside of you, kitty," she was saying. "And besides, I was worried about a friend. He was _way_ too close to the akumatized person when he attacked."

It was amazing how easily Adrien dismissed that. After all, that excuse sounded awfully familiar to what he had just done, and that would mean that Ladybug was Marinette.

How crazy would that be? The two girls he'd been crushing on turned out to be the same person? It's probably unlikely considering his luck.

 _And besides_ , he thought. _I respect Ladybug's wish to keep her identity a secret_.

(Then again, he also thought of watching Marinette just a little more closely. Ladybug didn't quite say anything about finding out her identity… right? Just something to _bug_ her about later.)

"Well, now that you're here, my lady," Cat Noir began, stretching out his arms, "we can finally kick some akuma butt. What do you say we track down that Megaphone guy?"

"Will do. So, which direction did he head in?"

"I don't know, bugaboo. I thought someone wearing that _loud_ an outfit would be pretty hard to miss."

"Cat Noir…"

"Okay, okay. I saw him head that way. Pretty sure he was following the old man's car, but knowing Hawkmoth, he might have caused a bit of trouble along the way."

"We better get going then!"

"Race you there?"

"Oh, you already _know_ I'm gonna win."

"You never know, my lady. I might get lucky one of these days."

When Ladybug only replied with that smirk, so playful and confident, Adrien couldn't help but feel his heart soar as easily as she did, swinging away from roof to roof. He chased after her, glad for the carefree feeling that came with being Cat Noir.

It was little moments like these that made his life feel a little more whole again.

One threat, a very loud conversation about a twisted sense of justice, some supersonic waves that were hard on the ears, a Cataclysm, a Lucky Charm, a de-evilized butterfly, and a fist bump later, Cat Noir and Ladybug were tired and running out of steam. They only had a few minutes to go before they would transform back, but Cat Noir wouldn't let Ladybug go just yet. He's been itching for even the slightest hint about who she was behind the mask.

"My lady?" he asked her before she could depart. "Can I ask you a quick question?"

She smiled. "Of course! What is it?"

"Hypothetically, let's just say that I start to connect the Ladybug dots," he began, unable to resist the pun. "And let's say I manage to spot who you are behind the mask—hypothetically, of course. Would you… be mad at me?" His ears deflated ever-so-slightly as he waited on her response.

When Ladybug sighed, Adrien had a feeling it was because of more than just his puns. "Hypothetically," she said, "I _would_ be mad at you. I would probably kill you for being an awfully nosy alley cat. Realistically…" She fidgeted with her fingers. "I wouldn't do much to stop you. I can't blame you if you managed to figure it out. I can be a little obvious sometimes." The corners of her mouth tilted up into a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Just… try not to be too disappointed, okay?"

She might have meant that as a lighthearted comment, but Adrien would not have it.

He rested his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Hey," he told her softly, looking her in the eyes. "I could never, _ever_ be disappointed in you, my lady. You're an amazing person, even behind the mask. I just _know_ it."

Ladybug opened her mouth to say something when the second to last spot on her earrings began to disappear. "I-I gotta go," she said quickly, averting her eyes from his and, swiftly swinging away on her yo-yo.

Adrien couldn't help but feel the return of a dull ache in his chest, the familiar feeling of uselessness washing over him once again as he watched Ladybug leap away from him. He couldn't even manage to put a smile on her face.

She must have felt insecure about herself outside of her superhero alter ego, Adrien realized. And she must have thought that her civilian self was nothing compared to her hero self.

But if Adrien was right about his hunch that Marinette might be Ladybug, well… Maybe that will help put her at ease.

He can't be too sure about anything, but he was about 80 percent sure.

Marinette was a great girl, and she was just as great as Ladybug. They were both compassionate and caring, and always looked out for others. They were both selfless, in that aspect, and they tend to put others before themselves more often than not. They both had a strong sense of justice, too. Marinette was one of the only people to stand against Chloé's tyranny and managed to walk out unscathed. Ladybug fought akumas every day and had the power to undo all the damage they had done.

They were both amazing.

And 'they' were most likely the same girl that sat behind him in class. She was the same girl who gave him a good luck charm when he seemed down, and the very same girl who asked him out, even _if_ she meant to hang out as friends.

She was _freakin'_ Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and Adrien was hopelessly in love with her.

"Thank goodness you're okay!"

Marinette hurriedly ran up to Adrien as they rendezvous in front of the movie theater. Her eyes were once again filled with worry.

"I'm all right," Adrien reassured with a smile. "Not a scratch on me, I swear." It was his turn to look concerned as he remembered their conversation earlier. "How are you holding up, Marinette?"

"Just fine." There it was again. Marinette's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "A-Anyways, I'm sorry that this, um, _hangout_ didn't quite work out as planned." She began fidgeting with her fingers again. "Not only was the movie _horrible_ , but we ended up under attack thanks to an akuma."

"It isn't your fault, Marinette." Adrien rested his hands on her shoulders, just like he had done earlier, telling her everything with a serious expression on his face. "You can't help anything that happened today." He smiled at her, moving his hands over hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "And I don't know about you, but I had a lot of fun today."

Marinette's eyes lit up a little at that. "You did?"

"Of course. It was great getting to know you better." Adrien laughed as he thought about all their interactions last year. "And you know," he added, "for the longest time, I thought you hated me."

"Hate you?" She sounded incredulous. "I could never!"

"You sure acted like it," Adrien pointed out. They began to walk, still hand-in-hand. "Whenever I talked to you or something, you would always make a cute little noise and hide behind Alya. You could barely say anything to me!"

"That's because I li—" Marinette stopped herself and cleared her throat abruptly. "Well, I had a good reason," she said instead. "At least I can talk to you now." The corners of her mouth curled into a playful smile. "And I'm really glad I got to know you better, too. Now I know how much of a dork you really are."

Adrien laughed. "You don't even know the half of it."

"Oh, really? What could be bigger and dorkier than the lamest cat puns in the entire world?"

"You have your secrets; I have mine." Adrien winked at Marinette. "Unless it's a fair trade, I'm afraid I won't be telling you a thing, Princess."

Marinette harrumphed, puffing her cherry red cheeks out. He had a feeling she wanted to talk about that nickname—Adrien had been not-so-subtly calling her 'Princess' for the past week—but she let it slide. Again.

(The truth was, this was the way Adrien flirted with Marinette. Calling someone a cute nickname and joining them on a _friendly_ date where they held hands a lot was basically Flirting 101… At least, Adrien thought so.)

"Either way," Marinette said, "it doesn't change the fact that you're a nerd."

"I'm a nerd now?"

"Nerd… dork… Same difference."

"It's not the same thing!"

"And there you have it! Only a nerd would know the difference!"

"I— I can live with that, actually." Adrien grinned. "Say, Marinette?"

"Hmm?"

"Let's play Twenty Questions. You know. As another get-to-know-you game in honor of our first time officially _hanging out_. As friends, and all."

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him but agreed nonetheless. "All right, pretty boy," she said with a smirk. "I'll play with you. You first."

"Ladybug or Cat Noir?" asked Adrien. There was a wide grin on his face as Marinette turned to look at him, appalled.

"What kind of question is that?"

"You promised, Marinette!"

"Okay, okay…" She thought about that for a moment, nose scrunched and eyes deep in concentration. "I think I'd probably go with… Cat Noir."

"Really?" Adrien could barely hide the grin on his face. "How come?"

"Adrien! It's my turn to ask the question!"

"Yeah, but… I wanna know."

Marinette sighed. "Well…," she began. "I feel like I— _we_ —never give him enough credit. He saves Ladybug countless times and hardly gets any of the attention. Sure, it's Ladybug that purifies the akumas, and sure, she's definitely stronger than him, but…" Marinette bit her lip and began to twiddle around with her fingers again. "She couldn't do half the things she does without him, even if he comes across as useless sometimes. Without Cat Noir, Ladybug would have probably lost her miraculous by now."

She had sounded so serious and so earnest about her compliment that Adrien had to restrain himself from "nerding out" as Marinette might have put it. He stuffed his hand into his mouth to keep himself from freaking out.

He was 90 percent sure that she _was_ Ladybug.

(After all, as an ardent follow of Alya's Ladyblog, he knew _for sure_ that even the most hardcore Ladybug fans wouldn't know what to call her earrings. It's not exactly the type of thing you would announce to the public.)

"You, um, sure like Cat Noir, huh?" Adrien was red in the face. He couldn't manage to look her in the eyes just yet.

"He can be admirable when it comes to it," Marinette admitted. "And if he would lighten up on the puns, he's actually not half bad." She bumped shoulders with him. "And like you said, helping Ladybug takes abs of steel."

"Y-Yeah…" Adrien coughed. "Your turn to ask me a question."

"Oh! Um…" Marinette hummed for a moment, contemplating. "Favorite color?"

"Easy peasy. Blue." Adrien made sure to look Marinette dead in the eyes as he said, "Blue's a pretty _miraculous_ color, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Marinette said, meeting his gaze steadily. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Totally."

"My turn." Adrien smiled at her before turning his gaze elsewhere. "Favorite musician?"

"Jagged Stone, for sure. Favorite movie?"

"Definitely not the one we just saw."

"Adrien!" Marinette was laughing. "That's not a valid answer!"

" _Fine_. I'll go with How to Train Your Dragon, the first one. Favorite spot in Paris?"

"The Eiffel Tower, of course! I love being up there and see how the world is so much bigger than I can ever imagine!" Marinette's eyes were sparkling. "Favorite food?"

"The chocolate chip cookies at your bakery wins by a landslide."

Marinette nudges him in the arm. "Liar," she laughed.

"It's true! Best thing I've ever tasted in my life. I'm stopping by _way_ more often."

"Uh-huh. You do that."

"Anyways, it's my turn. What kind of career are you looking into for the future?"

"A fashion designer!" Marinette squealed. "I mean, for now I'm not nearly as good as your dad, but I'm hoping to get to that level someday."

"I have no doubt that you will, Marinette," Adrien reassured. "You have some _purr_ etty _claw_ some designs, if I do say so myself."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Dork," she teased.

"You are going to admit that you love my puns. One day."

"Yeah, and that'll happen when pigs fly."

" _Meow_ ch. That hurts my feelings, Marinette."

"And your cat puns are starting to hurt my ears."

"You _love_ my puns."

"I do not."

"You do, too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

The two of them went on like that, laughing at a couple responses and sharing their love of others. It really was great getting to see Marinette come out of her shell like this. If anything, after today, Adrien fell more and more in love with a certain blue-eyed girl.

From her freckles to her smile to her laugh and to the way her eyes would shine— Adrien loved everything about Marinette. She was so breathtakingly amazing, and the only thing stopping him from confessing on the spot, was a deep-rooted uncertainty, a fragile feeling in his chest that told him that she might not ever return his affections.

Sure, they were friends, but that knot in his stomach kept Adrien from telling himself that he was okay with _just_ that. He wanted to be by her side every step of the way to hear every laugh, every cry, and every little thing she had to say because everything was music to his ears.

He had officially come back down to earth when they stopped in front of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. They were still holding hands, and that was the most important detail Adrien observed before turning to face Marinette.

"Well," he began, "thanks for the awesome day out, Marinette. Definitely a lot better than some photo shoot."

She grinned. "Right back at you," she said with a wink. "Thanks for spending the day with me, Adrien. It was fun."

"We should totally hang out again some other time," he told her. "Just… maybe not the movies."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Definitely not," she agreed. "So what were you thinking of doing?"

Adrien shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "Maybe just… hanging out at my place? We could even invite Alya and Nino over and turn it into a"—he raised his hands to make air quotations—"'studying session.' That'd be cool, right?"

"I thought Nino was banned from your house?"

"Oh, that's right… So, your house then?"

"Sure! We could do that!" Marinette smiled. "I'll text Alya the details."

Adrien grinned. "And I'll be sure to tell Nino about it later," he said. "We can always talk more about it at school, but does that sound like a plan?"

"It sounds perfect."

 _Home sweet home_ , Adrien thought as he walked up the steps of his house. Natalie was waiting for him with an angry expression, followed by telling him that his father wanted to have a quick little chat with Adrien in his office.

That conversation was an earful, mostly a one-sided talk about his responsibilities, certain things he must do as his son, and blah, blah, blah. Adrien stopped listening after his dad said, "Sit down, son."

To think, he looked forward to feeding Plagg some of that stinky Camembert more than having a sit down with his old man. Adrien's life was certainly glamorous.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, Plagg," Adrien said as he flopped down on his bed, "but you're one of the only people—well, kwami, I guess—I can count on."

"I'll pretend that didn't sound like an insult," Plagg said as he swallowed a slice of his favorite cheese whole. "And I happen to be the _only_ kwami you know, by the way. Unless you happened to figure out who Ladybug was without me knowing and already met her kwami."

"Well, I _do_ have a rough idea of who Ladybug is," Adrien commented, "but I haven't met her kwami yet. Do you know her? Ladybug's kwami, I mean."

"Tikki? Yeah, sure, I know her. She's got a real sweet tooth, that kwami," Plagg replied. He sounded nostalgic. "I got my thing with cheese, and she's got hers with cookies. But in my _humble_ opinion, cheese is always better than cookies." He took another gulp of Camembert for emphasis.

"Sounds to me like you miss Tikki," observed Adrien, raising an eyebrow at his kwami. "And just when I thought you would only have eyes for cheese…"

"I've known Tikki longer than you've been alive, kid," Plagg said. "Centuries, I've known that kwami, and all she's done is cut back on my cheese diet! I'm _so_ not looking forward to seeing her again."

Adrien grinned. "Aw, Plagg! Are you and Tikki in _love_?" he teased.

The black kwami harrumphed and stuffed another piece of cheese into his big mouth. "The only thing I'm in love with is cheese," he remarked. "You humans and your weird obsession with finding love. Now _cheese_ "—Plagg held up the last slice of Camembert in his tiny hands—"is where it's _at_." And with that, he swallowed it whole.

"You're disgusting. Girls smell better than cheese, Plagg."

"Source?"

"I have a working sense of smell."

Plagg shook his head. "Nope. That's not a valid source because Camembert smells _heavenly_."

Adrien made a face. "Disgusting," he repeated.

"Hey," Plagg said in a warning voice. "Cheese will _always_ be there for you. People? Not so much. Try and think about that next time you want to insult me and my Camembert."

 _Well_ , Adrien thought, thinking of his dad, _he's not wrong_.

"Whatever," he dismissed. "At least Ladybug's always got my back."

"You don't even know who she is behind the mask!"

"Maybe… but I'm like 90 percent sure it's Marinette."

Plagg's face lit up at the mention of her name. "Oh, that Marinette girl you went out with today!" he said in a singsong voice. "You should keep her! Her bakery makes the most _amazing_ cheese bread. Keep her even if she isn't Ladybug!"

"Did you not hear my 90 percent?"

"And you know, she even got us cheese popcorn at the movies today," Plagg continued. "You gotta keep her, Adrien! She's great!"

"Plagg, you can't just _keep_ a human!"

"Then you gotta marry her!"

" _Plagg!_ "


End file.
